Machine-gun.



PATENTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

J. BOEGER.

MACHINE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED DEC: 7, 1904.

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lNl/ENTDR & Joseph B06276? WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS PATENTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

J. BOEGBR.

MACHINE GUN "nrmcnlon FILED 1030.7,1904.

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E= m I UNITED STATES PATENT ornion.

MACHINE-GUN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application filed December 7, 1904. Serial No. 285,780-

To all whont it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH BOEGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dresden, in the county of Decatur and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machine-Guns, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machineguns of that class in which a large number of barrels are arranged side by side and combined with a removable cartridge-holder having chambers for the cartridges corresponding in number and position to the barrels and arranged to be locked in position at the rear end of the barrels and provided with firing-pins and firing mechanism by which all or a portion of the barrels may be discharged at once.

My invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts of the gun operating on the above-described principle, which I will now proceed to describe with reference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section with the hammer-bar raised for firing. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cartridge-holder. Fig. 4: is a side view in detail of the means for locking the cartridge-holder in the gun. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the safety-lock.

In the drawings, A represents the multichambered barrel, which is a broad and somewhat flat piece of steel bored with a large number of holes to form the barrels or chambers. These chambers are formed in successive tiers, one tier being arranged to inc'line a little to the right, another tier inclining to the left, and other tiers being intermediate and all the barrelsdiverging, so as to secure a wide distribution of the shots at the remote position of the enemy, so as to strike the line of the enemy along its files for a considerable distance instead of concentrating the balls at one point.

The barrel-chamber is mounted upon a horizontal axis a, so that it may be elevated or depressed, and this mounting is upon a horizontal turn-table B, which turns about a vertical step-bearing I; on a suitable base B, by which the gun may be pointed in any direction in a horizontal plane. To train the gun in this horizontal plane, a circular rack-bar b is secured to the under side of the turn-table B, and with this rack-bar a pinion 12 engages.

the firing-pin are housed.

This pinion is on a shaft 6 journaled in the base B, which shaft has outside of the base a suitable hand-wheel 5* or crank for turning it.

To elevate or depress the gun, a windingshaft S is arranged in bearings underneath the forward end of the barrel-chamber, and a strap or cord S, connected to the turn-table, is wound thereon. Any other suitable means for accomplishing this result, such as a screw, may be employed.

Just back of the open ends of the barrelchambers is a transverse breech-slot opening laterally to the gun, in which is received the detachable cartridge-holder O. (Shown in Fig. This cartridge-holder exactly fits the breech-slot and slides longitudinally in horizontal position into and out of the gun in direction transverse to the barrels. The cartridge holder is formed with chambers or seats 0 of the exact size of the cartridges, and l the number and position of these seats correspond exactly to the number and position of the rear openings of the barrels, with which they accurately register when the cartridgeholder is slid into its position in the breechslot.

To look the cartridge-holder in the breechslot, (see Figs. 3 and at) there is a notch G in the handle it of the cartridge-holder, and in this notch at the end of the cartridge-holder a locking-latch 0 is dropped. This latch is pivoted at one end 0 to the side of the breech of the gun, and the other end has a broad lip adapted to catch behind an offsetting lug c on the side of the barrel-chamber.

The'breech of the gun in rear of the breech slot contains the spring-seated firing-pins (Z, of which there is one for each chamber of the cartridge-holder, positioned so as to strike the cartridge therein. This portion of the breech is made in three sections D D D as seen in Fig. 1, so as to permit the insertion of the springs d of the firing-pins. The middle section D has somewhat larger holes bored in it than the sections D and D have, and in this middle section the collars and springs cl of The three sections of the breech are firmly and solidly fastened together after the firing-pins are in place.

On top of the breech of the gun is arranged the hinged breech-cover E. This covers the top of the breech-slot and overlaps the firingpin holder. Normally it is tightly held down by screws at the ends which pass into the sides of the breech of the gum-and its edge is formed with a groove 1/, that takes over a rib c on the top of the firing-pin holder to make a tight and strong connection.

To the edge of the breech-cover E is hinged at the hammer-bar F. This hammer-bar is provided with one or more springs f, which furnish the power to throw the hammer-bar down to strike the firing-pins and discharge the gun. This hammer-bar is provided with lifting, locking, and tripping mechanism, by which it may be raised to its cocked position and locked and afterward tripped by a trigger mechanism when the gun is to be fired. For raising the hammer-bar a cord g is connected to a loop 7' at the lower edge of the hammer-bar and is then carried to a Windlass or winding-shaft Gr, mounted transversely in bearings on top of the barrel-chamber. This shaft has a crank G at its end for winding it up and a ratchet and pawl G for holding it when wound up. After being wound up a trigger-hook it on the breech-cover is hooked around a stud it on the hammer-bar, and a firing-string/t is attached to the trigger-hook. After the trigger-hook is engaged with the stud the Windlass-cord is disconnected. The gun is now cocked and ready to be fired, as shown in Fig. 1. The firing is accomplished by simply pulling the firing-string if, which pulls the trigger-hook it ofl the stud 71/. The tension of the springs then throws the hammer-bar down against the ends of the firingpins and drives the same simultaneously against the caps of the cartridges, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

In loading the gun the hammer-bar is locked, so that it cannot strike the firing-pins, by a safety-lock. This consists of two swinging arms H H, rigidly connected to a shaft I, journaled in the cheek-pieces J J of the breech. In the safety position this shaft is rocked to swing the arms into an elevated position in which they rest against the firing-pin holder, which arms then act as props to hold the hammer-bar up, as seen in full lines in Fig. 5; but when the gun is to be fired these locking-arms are turned down to the full-line position shown in Fig. 1.

My gun is adapted to be used with any desired form of cartridge. The construction is very simple and not liable to get out of order, and the eifect of its discharge is very destructive. It is to be used on fortifications to oppose the storming of an enemy. It may also be used in trenches and on battle-ships. By having three or more cartridge-holders the loading and firing may be carried on so rapidly as to make the weapon one of great destructive power.

It will be understood that none of the barrels of my gun are parallel; but all of them diverge, and the tiers of barrels are so divided and ranged as to preferably cover a field five or six hundred feet wide at a range of fifteen hundred to two thousand yards, the shots to be placed at this distance two to two and onehalf feet apart.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A machine-gun comprising a series of barrels arranged side by side, and having a breech-slot in rear of the same with a lateral outlet and a removable breech-cover, a horizontally-sliding and detachable cartridgeholder arranged to be seated in the said slot, a firing-pin holder arranged in rear of the slot and a spring-actuated hammer-bar hinged at its upper edge to the removable breech-cover and extending transversely across the firingpins and a trigger mechanism for releasing the same substantially as described.

2. A machine-gun comprising a series of barrels arranged side by side and having a breech-slot arranged in rear of the same with a lateral outlet, ahorizontally-sliding and detachable cartridge-holder arranged to be seated in said slot, afiring-pin holder arranged in rear of the slot, a spring-actuated hammerbar hinged at its upper edge and extending transversely across the firing-pins, a Windlass mechanism, for raising the haml'ner-bar, located on top of the barrel-chamber, and a holding and tripping mechanism substantially as described.

3. A machine-gun comprising a series of barrels arranged side by side and having a breech-slot in rear of the same with a lateral outlet and a removable cover, a horizontallysliding and detachable cartridge-holder, a locking device arranged at the lateral outlet along the side of the gun for holding the cartridgeholder in position and a set of firing-pins with firing mechanismsubstantially as described.

t. A machine-gun comprising a series of barrels arranged side by side and having a breech-slot in rear of the same with a lateral outlet, a hinged cover for the breech-slot extending across the gun and carrying a hinged and spring-actuated ham mer-bar along its rear edge, a set of firing-pins and a holding and tripping mechanism for the hammer-bar substantially as described.

5. A machine-gun comprising a series of barrels arranged side by side and having a breech-slot in rear of the same with a lateral outlet, a series of firing-pins in rear of the slot, a spri rig-actuated hammer-bar hinged along its upper edge and extending transverely across the firing-pins and a swinging safety-lock hinged below the hammer-bar and adapted to be turned up under the same to prevent its contact with the firing-pins substantially as described.

6. A machine-gun comprising a series of barrels arranged side by side and having a breech-slot in rear of the same with a lateral outlet and a firing-pinholder with firing-pins and cheek-pieces at the ends of the same, a spring-actuated hammer-bar hinged along its upper edge and adapted to swing down between the cheek-pieces to strike the firingpins, a rock-shaft arranged in bearings in the cheek-pieces below the hammer-bar and having one or more rigidly-attached arms adapted to be swung up and under thehamrner-bar IO to limit its downward movement substantially as described.

JOSEPH BOEGER Witnesses:

DAVID MUIRHEAD, M. E. MUIRHE'AD. 

